Fuel leak

   
 

Thanks! I have corrosion in the wing so the fuel tank will need to come out. I will check for a leak then.

I pulled the left hand wing tank off my Alon for a couple of reasons. I found evidence of leakage at a rivet on the back of the tank. You would NEVER see that unless you entirely removed the tank.

Drill the leaking rivet through with a #40 drill bit. Drill the rivet head off with a 5/32 bit and punch the tail into the tank. If you have the tank off you can shake the tail out. A CR3213-5-2 cherry max rivet coated with some fuel sealant and you’re down to reinstalling the tank.

I also found leakage around the fuel gauge glass. Vernon Gregory @skyport had the gaskets in stock.

The vented cap is the overflow. It isn't unusual to have fuel run out the wing cap vent if the tanks are full and you park with the wings not level. Maybe the Forney with 15 gallon tanks is different, but my 415-c model with traditional tanks has no overflow. Most don't top off the tanks to avoid fuel running out of the caps. If you have fuel coming out anywhere else, then you should be concerned. Is it possible the fuel is coming out of the vented caps, then it runs to the the underside of the wing and because of dihedral, down the wing into the fuselage? If that is the case, then the solution would seem to be don't top off the tanks.

Take off the wing to body fairings. If you have any seepage or leaking you will have a blue or red stain depending on if you use avgas or mogas.

If you have 36 gallons on board you could fly for over 6 hours. My bladder could never handle that without a catheter.

If you have a leak at a rivet. Drill it out and replace it with a Cherrymax (aircraft grade pop rivet) dipped in BMS 5-95 P/S 870 B-1/2 sealant

Confused now? Matt said it is okay to have fuel drain thru the holes in fuselage if aircraft is full tanks and not level . I understand that you are saying that I should have no fuel in the fuselage therefore it must drain somewhere else? Am I to be concerned or not? Thanks, Ken